Sweden, or the Kingdom of the Swedes

do not have a climate that is very mild, but the fertility of the soil compensates for the severity of the sky in those places where it is not covered by forests and crags, especially in the more eastern and southern parts. The outermost parts, however, lying between the Arctic Circle and the pole, enjoy neither the mildness of the sky nor of the soil. And therefore, that wondrous Creator of nature and of all things, since crops do not ripen there due to the weak heat of the sun, has enriched those lands for the sustenance of the inhabitants with the hunting of various animals, and the bays of the sea, lakes, and rivers, with an abundance of multiple kinds of fish.

Scandia was once far more populous than it is now. This is testified to by those many expeditions and almost inundations of the Scanziani into the remaining parts of the world, of which histories make mention; when, partly on account of the density of the population and innate fertility, partly on account of the divine scarcity of provisions, and partly on account of the nature of a people accustomed to battle and fleeing dissension, they sought out new homes for themselves and their children, like bees. The same populousness also seems to be proven by the piles of stones,